CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Police arrested a Coconut Creek man Saturday after they said he touched the genitals of a 16-year-old boy who was walking in a Coral Springs park this July, in an apparent effort to solicit sex from him.
According to an arrest report, the incident happened July 14 at Tall Cypress Natural Area, located at 3700 Turtle Run Blvd., just off Sample Road.
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Coral Springs police said the boy got out of his vehicle and noticed a man, later identified as Robert Charles Russell, 66, smiling at him in his car with the windows down.
While the teen walked in the park and used his phone, police said Russell approached him again, smiling.
The boy told police that Russell then “touched his testicles in (a) swiping motion over his clothing while making a grunting sound,” causing the teen to push Russell away, an arrest report states.
The report states the teen got back into his car, left and reported the incident to his father and police.
Police said the teen later identified Russell from a photo lineup.
The arrest report states that when police interviewed Russell, he told them he had been in the park to meet men for sex, “which is what the park is known for.”
Russell said he thought the teen was in his early 20′s when he approached him, police said.
“Russell stated that he attempted to flirt with the male by saying hello and grabbing his (own) penis, but the male declined his advancement by pushing his hands away,” an investigator wrote.
Police said Russell denied touching the boy’s genitals and said he believed the “eye contact” he made with the teen was an “invitation.”
Russell was taken into custody Saturday on a charge of lewd and lascivious touching of certain minors, according to court records.
He was no longer listed in Broward jail records as of Monday.